Is it possible that some who have "defective" units aren't maintaining them well? I bought a used grasshopper, and when it came it was pretty beat up. I actually wasn't sure how it could be titanium, because I didn't know titanium could get so scratched up. I got 1 or 2 crappy hits out of a fully charged GHB2. The back end felt like it was going to catch on fire. Vapor tasted bad, zero visible clouds and no effect. But somehow it was roasting the weed quickly.
This unit is from 2017 and I'm pretty sure the PO thought it was defective. When I got it and saw how poorly it was performing, I PMed the reddit user who sold it to me and he ghosted his reddit account. I had no idea how to troubleshoot it so I almost sent it back to HL straight away, but I was really disappointed to start off my experience with this device this way, because I'd read so much and I was so excited to not have to wait for a new unit. So then I read some troubleshooting info and spent some time in this thread. It had a lot of the problems most people here and on reddit generally complain about. But it was easy to deep clean it and get it back up and running again.
I took the whole thing apart and deep cleaned with iso, degummed the threads, cleaned out the chamber and the battery terminals. Some really nasty black gunk came off the back end threads, the device was really gross. Putting it back together everything was MUCH smoother, felt like what I imagine is like new.
Put some herb in and took some hits, HUGE super tasty clouds at 3.5-5. In my water pipes or just hitting it with the PFE. Doesn't get too hot. Batteries are worn for sure, but much better than they were. About 1 bowl per battery charge, but that's about 5 or 6 big hits.
I'm finding that if I take multiple small puffs on it, kind of like a cigar, it ramps up the heat back and forth really quickly and you get massive clouds, but the unit doesn't heat up that much, and the vapor stays relatively cool. I find that this works much better than just ripping on it. Really efficient with herb this way, super dark ABV and better battery life.
I know everyone's situation is different, but it may be that some just aren't taking great care of these things sometimes, and that is causing them to under-perform or fail. I work in IT and I see a lot of clients who treat their computers really poorly and then complain when their devices fail.
I did order a new TI hopper because I like this one so much, and I'll probably sell the beat up unit. I'm really blown away by this little thing. I have a Flowerpot Showerhead, an Evo, a Mighty and an OmniVap on the way in the mail. The Grasshopper is definitely my favorite vape so far, by a longshot. The formfactor is great, the design is awesome, the battery life is great, the taste is good, using it with water tools is fantastic. It's a conversation starter, it's beautiful, inconspicuous. I always feel strange using my Mighty out in public and I never bother using it at shows because it's so obvious. The Grasshopper is just so good for that.
I decided to pay full price for a new hopper because I want to support this company and I want them to do well. The hopper is a very unique, awesome product that I am very happy to have come across. I hope that they get through the issues that they've been dealing with, and I hope all the people who are waiting on units, either being serviced or new orders, get them soon.
No other company has been able to make anything nearly as good, so I think we as a community have the power to support them if we can, so they can succeed and continue making this great product. I think as popularity increases, eventually we will see competitors. But until then nothing really comes close. I want them to stick around.
